G&A SEE Firestone

GAC SEE General Nighthawk

Gage, Fowler-Gage

1912 = 1pOB, Curtiss-type pusher. No specs found, but likely similar to Curtiss. POP: 1 built for exhibition use by Roy Francis and later, reportedly, 1 tractor version for Francis and Frank Bryant to share.

A-2 Bullet 1912 = Evolution of A-1 with a round, stringer-formed fuselage and variable-incidence wing with single-tube main spar and ribs made of aluminum tubing. POP: 1, crashed during a speed run of 110mph on 7/24/12.

Gammeter

Harry C Gammeter, Cleveland OH.

Gammeter OrthopterOrthopter 1907 = 1p ornithopter; 7hp @ 1200rpm Curtiss; span: 30'0" length: 12'0". Gross wt: 440#. Those are the total specs found for this creation with bamboo-and-silk flapping wings, double-hinged to the fuselage and flapping 75 strokes per minute. It reportedly "took-off in unmanned tethered flight" (no date) after developing a thrust of 24#, but was not developed further. "Originally, a horizontal flywheel turning at 1500rpm was used for stabilization but was later removed." Listed as an entrant in Flying Machine events at 1907 Intl Aeronautic Tournament in St Louis MO, 21-24 Oct 1907flying or a static display? Gammeter was member of Aero Club of America and president of Aero Club of Cleveland about that time, also invented and patented in 1903 the multigraph duplicating machine ("Ditto machine"). Thanks to Paul Dunlop for dredging up this info.

Gannet

Garbrick

J Lester Garbrick, Centre Hall PA.

Garbrick (clip: Flying)
1941 = 1pOB; Indian Chief motorcycle engine; v: x/50/30. This was Garbrick's 90-lb mini-biplane, built for and flown by his teen-age son, according to a squib in Oct 1949 Flying. Little else is known, but, estimated from a photo, wingspan looks to be about 12'0" and length maybe 10'0".

Lark 1929 = 1pOB; 60hp Roberts; span: 28'4" length: 23'0". Repowered in 1930 with 80hp LeRhône rotary, it continued flying well into the 1960sand with its original fabric! Stored after Garbrick's death in 1971, it was finally sold in 1977; present whereabouts unknown [529].

Garland Lincoln

Garland Lincoln N.28 [75W] (K O Eckland coll)Garland Lincoln N.28 skeleton [75W] (Clark Scott)
1930 = Rebuilt French Nieuport 28 modified for film work. POP: uncertain, but [R4], [R/NR75W], and [2539] were often seen in films. Lincoln's fleet of DH-4s, Nieuports, and "Germanized" Travel Airs was extensive and varied, but only lightly documented. [NR75W] (c/n LF-2) as example, began life as a real rotary-powered N.28 (c/n 1466), rebuilt in 1920, registered around 1932 as [75W] to Lincoln, who rebuilt it with a 220hp Wright in 1935.

Garland Lincoln LF-1 [N12237] (Marie White)LF-1 1932 = 1pOB; 100-160hp Gnôme rotary; span: 23'0" length: 19'6"; ff: 8/10/32. POP: 3. [NX/NR/N12237] was the first of three clipped-wing Nieuport 28 replicas for motion picture work built by Flagg for Lincoln, a supplier of aircraft for films (eg: "Dawn Patrol"). The design was so much a duplicate of the original that the fabric once ripped loose on the top wing during a power dive, as was a problem with wartime Nieuports. Repowered c.1950 with 220hp Continental and was active well into the 1970s, used extensively in film and exhibition work by Paul Mantz and Frank Tallman. Two others (c.1934) had 200hp Wright J-4 and I-struts.

Garvan-Burnelli SEE Burnelli

Gary SEE Hoople

Gates

Gates (Chicago Historical Society DN008646)
1910 = No data on this plane built for entry in one of the popular local air meets. Photo shows pilot M Gustav Strombom at the controls.

Gates

1929: (Ivan R) Gates Aircraft Corp, 1440 Broadway, New York NY.

RSV 1929 = 2pOB and 2pOlwM; 100hp Renard; span: 31'3" length: 23'7"; (monoplane) v: 115/90/40 range: 500; (biplane) v: 102/85/28 range: 550. Actually Belgian RSV (Renard, Stampe & Vertongen) 18/100 and 26/100 light tourers, to be built under license in this country by Gates. Claimed spin- and stall-proof; transformation to or from a biplane was claimed in less than two hours. $3,750 as monoplane, $750 more for the biplane kit, but buyer interest was nonexistent. POP: 2 [X118M, X841W] (plus 2 imports, SEE following sidebar). One convertible-wing arrangement was entered in the Guggenheim Safe Airplane Competition at Mitchel Field NY, but was withdrawn for unstated reasons.The planes had a common fuselage but, contrary to what has been reported in many sources, the RSV 18 monoplane could not be converted to the RSV 26 biplane nor vice versa. However, it has been reported that the type was redesigned on behalf of Gates to adapt it to US production methods, and maybe this also implied that the Gates RSV was convertible, but the Belgian versions were not. RSV 18/100 [O-BAJK], later [OO-AJK], was sold in the USA as [NC157H] in 1931 (this date may have been a bookkeeping exercise only and it probably was imported about 1929), while [O-BRSV], later [OO-RSV], became [NX9163] in 1929. In addition to these two, a small number of each type was built in Belgium. The two Gates registrations quoted above for were probably the only RSVs completed in the USA (but to the Belgian plans or the US plans?) ( Luc Wittemans 10/23/00)

Gates Learjet SEE Learjet

Gates-Day Standard SEE Standard GD

Gatling

James Henry Gatling, Maney's Neck NC.

Yet another contestant for the laurels of the Wright Brothers is this older brother of the inventor of the Gatling Gun, who claimed to have flown about 100' in 1872 in a ponderous, hand-powered contraption, the design of which, judging from a drawing, looks like it might have been influenced by a cement mixer. It is included in this works for its intrinsic value.

Gauthier

Gaviota

Donald W Whittier, Los Angeles CA.

ST-1A 1931 (2-384) = 1pOM; 65hp Velie M-5, later Cirrus and Kinner. According to research by J M Jarratt, it was acquired by Garland Lincoln for film work, then passed through several other hands locally before its reg was cancelled in 1940. Unknown whether Whittier was designer or builder, but this appears in registers as c/n 1 [NC936Y]. SEE Geiger.

General

General Flying boat (G P Maiorana coll)General Striking underside view (G P Maiorana coll)
1916 = 2pOBFb very much in the style of a Curtiss F; 100hp Curtiss OX-5 or Maximotor pusher; span: 38'0" length: 27'8" load: 600#; ff: 11/x/16. Alfred Verville. Mahogany hull and wing floats constructed by Mayea Boat Co (Detroit), three-bladed prop, engine mounted under top wing. Sub-headline in an ad for flight training really went after the wimps: "Instruction in a General Aeroplane's Verville type flying boat will convert the ardent speed motor boat enthusiast to the virile man-making sport of flying." Instead, the Navy purchased the plane for use as a trainer. Two more similar military pushers and two twin-engine seaplanes were ordered in Mar 1917, but there is no record of any more aircraft being built by GAC.

General on floats (ad: 1917 Flying)General on wheels (G P Maiorana coll)
1916 = 2pOBF pusher; no data. Alfred Verville. Twin floats were replaced with wheels for winter operations off the ice of Lake St Clair. In its first flight with wheels in Jan 1917, the pilot overshot the landing area and ended up in open water, destroying the plane.The floatplane was model "Gamma S," and it was this second plane that crashed after it had been mounted on wheels and rechristened the model "Gamma L." Verville apparently also designed a tractor version of the seaplane. ( Norman Fill 8/9/01)

General, GAC

General Aircraft Corp (Conrad & John W Dietz), Cincinnati OH.

Nighthawk 1928 = 3pOB; 90hp Curtiss OX-5; span: (upper) 36'0" (lower) 26'0" v: 120/102/35-40; aka Dietz Nighthawk. Displayed at a 1928 exhibition, but only as a wind-tunnel scale model, so perhaps that was as big as this one ever got. No record of construction of this design that looked much like a British Hawker Fury.

General

Pilot 1928 = 4pChwM; 150hp Floco; span: 40'0". Bayard Stewart. Looked like a big Spirit of St Louis, was badly damaged in landing when it ran into a fence and most likely never flew again [X7622] (aka 6p Federal CM-2). Two other types were under development by this fledgling companya 2p 100hp OhwM called Flyabout, and a 12p tri-motor ChwM creatively named Airlinerneither apparently making it to completion.

Genie SEE N S A

Georgias Special

Vern Georgia & Herb Hecker, Bloomington MN.

Georgias Special
1929 = 1pOhwM; 28hp Lawrance motorcycle engine; span: 28'0" length: 17'0". The original of this widely-advertised kit-builder's project did not fly during Georgia's ownership. Plans drawn by Orville Hickman (who welded the fuselage for Georgia) were published in 1931, and he is often mistakenly credited with the design and manufacture. [366V].

Gephart

Harry L Gephart, Silver City NM.

1930 = 2pM; LeBlond. [932Y].

Geraci

Al Geraci, Roselle IL.

Advance Jeep-O-Plane c.1957 = 2pCB; Continental(?) pusher. A highly original machine. Judging from photos, the span was not more than 8'. Wingtips were connected via large endplates on each side, making the airplane look like an open box. The rear-mounted engine drove a pusher prop. Rudders mounted on the
endplates, additional fin area above the engine, horizontal tail on a boom. [N275].

Gere

George W "Bud" Gere Jr, Minneapolis MN.

Crusader 1935 = 1pOB; 62hp Velie M-5; span: 20'0" length: 16'0" v: x/80/45. This begs a question because Gere was killed in an ice-boat accident in late 1932. It could have been a copy by some home-builder from plans of the Gere published in Modern Mechanics magazine of Nov 1932.

Sport 1932 = 1pOB; 40hp Szekely SR-5 or Ford A; span: 19'0" length: 16'4" v: 95. Popular home-builder's project of the time had numerous design and motor variations. Claimed that the basic design evolved into the EAA Biplane of the 1960s.

Gerhardt

W F Gerhardt & E L Pratt, Dayton OH.

Autogiro 19?? = No data.If this is the one that Olympian Joanna De Tuscan supposedly pedaled and got to rise vertically, sure wish I could find a picture or drawing of it. I did find a brief description today, that's new to me, describing it as an "autogiro Rotor quatre pales" (meaning "four blades"). I gather from other descriptions that there were two rotors with a blade at each end? ( Steve Koons 12/26/07)Gerhardt Cycloplane Caution for wake turbulence! (Nov 1933 Popular Aviation)Cycloplane 1923 = An ungainly, pedal-powered "flying venetian blind" creation that collapsed under its own weight on its attempted test flight and is often seen on those "unusual machines" clips on television. Monocoque fuselage had seven 40' wings of 18" chord with what appears to be an economy of bracing. Towering 19', it stood higher than it might have flown. Balsa spars and leading edges, all other framework was spruce. The power train was built up from a bicycle and geared to the propeller. Gerhardt, an aero engineer at McCook Field, staked his claim as first to have flown with pedal-power, but proof of a first flight on 7/22/23, was not found.

Gilbert

Gill

Howard W Gill.

1910-11 = Several 1-2pOB Curtiss copies noted with hyphenate credits (eg: the Gill-Dosch machine flown by Hillery Beachey at the 1910 Dominguez Air Meet in Los Angeles). Although an advocate for Curtiss airplanes, Gill was killed while flying a Wright EX, in a mid-air collision in Sep 1912.

Gillespie

G Curtis Gillespie, Brooklyn NY.

Gillespie Concept art (clip: 6/24/1905 Scientific American via Paul Dunlop)Gillespie Concept art (ibid, via Paul Dunlop)
c.1905 = An early attempt at aircraft design looking more like a collection of barn doors and a boxy control cart being held together by more piano wires than on a parlor piano and coaxed aloft by seven huge propellers reportedly made of metal ("aluminium"). How aloft it actually ever got is unknown as flight info was lacking. SEE specs & data.The article ... mentions that the wheel controls a couple flaps at the front and that there was a 20hp engine. The entire craft seems only 24-30 inches high, and the pilot had to lay on his stomach. As to steering, it goes into a lengthy discussion as to how a bird instinctively reacts in the air and says the pilot of this craft will do much the samein other words, there's no steering!. ( Steve Koons 12/26/07)

Gillette

P E Gillette, Salt Lake City UT.

1910 = Evolving from his earlier motorized balloon project, Gillette's airplane used gas to offset some of its weight in hollow hydrogen-filled wings made of aluminum and silk. Unlike most planes at the time, the motor was in front and the pilot in the rear for balance. Two propellers located in the back pushed while a third prop in front pulled the aircraft. It had a rudder in the rear, an elevating vane in front, and its wings were movable in flight much like those of a bird. In Feb 1910, Gillette demonstrated a working model to convince some local businessmen his design would fly but it apparently failed to generate any funding, for Gillette and his creation were not heard of again.

Gilkey

Gilmore

Gilmore (WW1 Aero)Gilmore Field 1908 map
c.1908 = Fact is difficult to separate from folk legend surrounding the doings of eccentric, reclusive inventor Gilmore. Any proof of his conquest of the air was lost in a 1935 hangar fire, along with his two planes and evidence supporting his claim to have flown a steam-powered aircraft long before the Wright Brothers, in May 1902. There does exist a witnessed document, dated 4/27/1898, showing a pusher-tractor aircraft design, so at the least Gilmore was a visionary. It was that design he used in his huge 2400# oddity with its ungainly birdlike wings and an abundance of strutsit never left the hangar. He died at age 77 in his unheated, boarded-up house on 2/19/51, still working on drawings.

1911 = 2pOmwM; 35 or 50hp Roberts. First attempt at flight on 9/21/11, failed with a broken crankshaft; a second try on 3/17/12, succeeded only in proving the plane was too heavy (1600#) to fly. Undated photos of his flying field, "Gilmore Aerodrome," show this monoplane in his barn-hangar along with the larger aircraft. Despite lack of documentation, Gilmore is regarded as a California aviation pioneer for his contributions to early aviation, and patented drawings prove him to be at least a visionary with concepts of the monoplane, the retracting landing gear, and the enclosed cabin.

Gluhareff

E (Eugene) Gluhareff Helicopter Corp, Palm Springs FL.

MEG-1X, -2X c.1959 = 1pOH; rotor 20'0" load: 200# v: 55/x/0 range: 15. A strap-on helicopter with tip-jet, single-blade rotor. A two-bladed version as MEG-2X was also built and test-flown, but no data were found.

Gohn

Golasky

G2-1 1932 = 2pOB; Lee motor. Not much data found on an attractive, Bird-type plane built as a student project. [X11681] c/n G-2-1, owned then by Lee Motors Corp, Collegeville PA.

Golden Arrow

Golden Arrow Aircraft Co, Columbus OH.

Sport 1930 = 1pOB; 65hp Continental A-65. POP: reportedly 5, of which 2 were destroyed in a hangar fire. No reg numbers found.V J Berinati was unable to find any evidence of this operation, and Columbus Aviation Museum finds no record of any company called Golden Arrow. Suspicion is that it was a "paper" company only. ( John M Jarratt 9/23/02)

Golden Eagle Chief [NC5246] (Frank Rezich coll)Chief 1929 (ATC 202) = 2p C-5 with 90hp LeBlond 7D; length: 20'6" load: 560# v: 120/98/38 range: 500. $2,990; $1,800 less motor; POP: 10, of which 3 were built by Mackey & Associates in 1931. Three prototypes were destroyed in spin-induced crashes in 1929 before design corrections were made. One earned fame in endurance and distance record flights by Bobbi Trout in 1929, as well as setting a new class altitude record of 15,200' [X10071].

Gonzales

1912 = 1pOB; 35hp Kemp I-4; span: 38'9" length: 35'0". Flown for a few years around Woodland CA, to where the brothers boxed and shipped the airplane by rail since San Francisco had an ordinance at the time prohibiting flying machines within city limits. Ultimately stored in a shed until 1974, when it was rebuilt as a static display at Travis (AFB) Air Museum.

Goodland

1909: Goodland Aviation Co, Goodland KS.

INFORMATION NEEDED

1909 = No recorded data found about one aircraft known to have been built.

Goodyear GA-33 [NC39635] (unknown magazine clip)GA-33, -447 Inflatoplane 1956 = 1pOmwM; 40hp Nelson H-63A; ff: 2/13/56 (p: Dick Ulm). Inflatable, rubber air-mass construction, somewhat like a giant inner-tube. Structural integrity was retained in flight with forced air being continually circulated by the motor, and required less air pressure than the average auto tire. Designed and built in only 12 weeks. Take-off run on grass was 390'. Concept based on Taylor McDaniel inflatable rubber glider experiments in 1931. POP: 1 [N39635], led to subsequent improved, enclosed-cockpit GA-447 with new wing design (span: 34'0") for military evaluation; tested with various gear arrangements, from tricycle to uniwheel, also on a hydroskid for operations on water.

Gordon

Frank Gordon dba The Airplane Factory, Los Molinos and Red Bluff CA.

A-3 c.1929 = 2-3pOhwM; 150hp Hisso; span: 36'0" length: 26'0" load: 1000# v: 120/100/x range: 800. Spruce and mahogany parasol wing, steel tube frame with fabric cover. Christened Miss Tehama [NX74M].The "Factory" was a former cannery in Los Molinos owned by Charles F Stryker where, at the request of Stryker in 1928 as a partner, Gordon towed an airplane he had begun building in Los Angeles. The plane flew at Red Bluff several times, then was grounded by new CAA regulations, reported to have finally deteriorated in a nearby field from exposure to the elements. ( John M Jarratt 4/4/01)

Gould, Content & Loening

NY.

INFORMATION NEEDED

1909 = OBF; unknown motor; span: 26'0" length (probably the hull): 10'0". Described in 1909 Jane's as "boatlike, intended to rise from water." Bamboo wing frames covered with rubberized cloth. Reported as being built "on the Hudson by aeronautical students at Columbia University." Could be one of Grover Loening's first projects.

"It's easy to make a million dollars in aviation. You simply start with two million dollars."  anonymous